Pages

Saturday, January 15, 2011

My Grandparents

These are my grandparents, Tom J. Johnston and Pansy Louise Lancaster. I am standing between them and am probably less than a year old. I think this because I am not standing up straight.

My grandfather was called Tom-Tom by his grandchildren and my grandmother was called Mam-ma. They were in their late thirties when I was born, as their first grandchild, and felt they were too young to be grandparents. So we did not call them "grandma" or "grandpa." Also, in Texas, where my grandparents were born, a common name for grandmother was "Mam-ma." My mother called her grandmother "Mam-ma," too.

Tom-Tom was a carpenter and worked at Diablo Valley College until his death. Mam-ma worked outside the home in clothing stores. She also made her own clothes, probably the dress she is shown wearing here.

3 comments:

You’ve got a great genealogy blog and we’ve added it to the list of over 1,600 genealogy blogs at GeneaBloggers (http://www.geneabloggers.com).

We will announce your blog in our weekly New Genealogy Blogs on Saturday, January 22, 2011. In the meantime, please visit the About ( http://www.geneabloggers.com/about/) section at GeneaBloggers to learn how you can display your GeneaBloggers badge on your blog and also how you can participate in activities such as the Daily Blogging Prompts.

I've seen a lot of cases where the grandparents are reluctant to be called grandma and grandpa or any other name that would identify them as grandparents. After all, it's one of the mileposts of increasing age. But your grandparents look so young that I can't really fault them for sticking with Tom-Tom and Mam-Ma.

All comments on this blog will be previewed by the author to prevent spammers and unkind visitors to the site. The blog is open to other-than-just family members particularly those interested in family history and genealogy.

About Me

I currently research my own family. I became interested in researching my family when I was pregnant with my first child. I had always liked hearing the stories told by my elderly aunts but never thought about the continuity until my daughters were born. Now I wished I had taped those stories! Now that I'm retired, I'm spending much more time working on my families and now plan to write about my adventures into the past.

I am currently on the board of directors for two societies: Contra Costa County Genealogical Society and the California Genealogical Society. I also volunteer with the Contra Costa County Historical Society.

I love working with the environment, volunteering with the California Phenology Project through the John Muir National Park, and planting native gardens with the Friends of Alhambra Creek and the New Leaf Collaborative (a part of the Martinez Unified School District).

I love teaching and currently give presentations on Using City Directories, Beginning Genealogy, and Breaking Brick Walls Tips.